Dear CGE Members and Community,


Quick Little Reminders

  • Sign pledge in support of Portland Community College faculty 

Part-Time Faculty, Full-Time Faculty, and Academic Professionals at Portland Community College (PCCFFAP) have declared impasse on their contract negotiations after being offered a cost of living adjustment equal only to a $3.50 increase for every thousand earned. 
Sign to support the hardworking faculty at PCCFFAP here.

Announcements

  • Fellows' Union Now!

Fellows at OSU are organizing to be recognized as a sublocal of CGE. This will allow Fellows to negotiate a contract for their rights, while uniting all grad workers to support each other and share resources. We are conducting a card counting campaign, the legal process to get union recognition in the State of Oregon. Sign your card by reaching out to solidarity@cge6069.org. OSU has not considered Fellows employees so they are not included in our bargaining unit. This means that the benefits Fellows receive, are not guaranteed by a contract and could be lost at any time, including with incoming budget cuts. Fellows deserve a say in their own workplace and protected workplace rights. Union recognition for Fellows is possible, it has happened at other universities, and CGE went through a similar process in 2007 to get Graduate Research Assistants included in the union. But we need you! Talk to your coworkers, and encourage Fellows to come to the upcoming town hall on March 5th (more below).

  • Steward nominations are open

Steward nominations for each department are open from now until through March 2nd 5pm. Stewards support workers in their department and make sure they are represented in CGE. There is no experience needed, just a commitment to supporting your coworkers! You can nominate yourself or others here. It is especially important to get nominations for department that don't currently have any stewards. If you want more information reach out to  vp_organizing@cge6069.org. 

  • Call for brewers: beer, wine, kombucha, more!

Planning for the annual CGE Brew off has started. Brew off centers around on contest of home brews (of all kinds) and is also a very good party. Brew off will be in the summer, but now is the time to get brewing!

Upcoming Events
  • Craft and Study Night, February 17th, 4-6pm in the WestM student lounge
Join CGE Disability Justice & Mental Health Caucus for a cozy evening!
  • Fellows' Town hall, March 5th, 4-5pm at WestM
This town hall will be a chance for all Fellows to come together and discuss the Fellow's Union. Bring your ideas, priorities, and questions!
  • Upcoming actions you can take to support disconnecting the Oregon tax code from the federal tax code to ensure future state education funding

    • Wednesday, February 18th, 3-5pm
      Provide written Testimony for SB 1507Here is an SB 1507 Testimony Submission Form that leaders on this email can use, and share with your locals, ahead of the House Committee on Revenue Public Hearing! We need to have as much testimony prepared and ready to submit so we can come in hot as soon as the testimony link is live! Fill this out, and the coalition will submit it onto the record ASAP.

      Verbal (In-Person or Online) Testimony for SB 1507We need to "pack the room" in Salem as much as we can. Speak to the need to pass this bill and prevent the very worst of budget cuts to early learning, K12, and Oregon's higher education system. RSVP here.

      Email your Elected LawmakerYou can use this new coalition link to send an email, or use AFT-Oregon's toolkit to send a tailored email that is sure to pass by any spam filter a lawmaker might use. Both are good to use or share - both have an impact - we win through a volume of actions!

      Phone-bank For Our Future - February 19th at 6pm 
      The Oregon Working Families Party is supporting AFT-Oregon members and the Fight For Our Future revenue coalition by organizing a phone bank with us and fellow advocates to call constituents in key target districts, tell them about this issue, and 'patch-them-through' to leave voicemails to their lawmakers. This will build bottom up pressure on key targets who need the biggest push.

      Register for Thursday, 2/19 at 6pm at this link"

Committees and Caucuses that need your help
Grad workers are capable and passionate people who can together exercise great power. One of the ways we do that is through caucuses and committees. All meetings are at WestM unless otherwise stated.
Disability Justice and Mental Health Super Caucus: Wednesday 2-3pm on zoom. Reach out to vp_membership@cge6069.org for the zoom link.
Grievance Committee: A great opportunity for people to learn more about the contract and how we defend it. Meets Fridays at 4pm. Email vp_grievances@cge6069.org for more information.
International Caucus: The CGE International Caucus is open to all graduate students regardless of CGE membership status and serves to represent the concerns of all international students at Oregon State University. The International Graduate Caucus recognizes that international graduate students attending OSU have unique needs and difficulties in comparison to US students. Reach out to president@cge6069.org.
Environmental Justice Caucus: Every other Monday (not next Monday!), 1pm at the Biere Library. Reach out to vp_politics@cge6069.org.

In solidarity,
Serena Frazee (she/her)
VP for Communications, Coalition of Graduate Employees, AFT Local 6069
PhD Student in Integrative Biology, Oregon State University